| | August 20169CIOReviewToday, individuals are providing crowdsourced location-specific knowledge, and this data is very valuable. Crowdsourced information is an accurate source of GIS data, and since the contributor is a willing participant, there are few ethical concerns. However, other individually contributed GIS data, which is amazingly accurate, because it's harvested electronically via GPS sensors on smartphones, wearable devices, sensor readers in buildings, etc., is not always obtained from a fully willing participant. While the intent is pure - to have GIS apps consume data in real-time to provide the services we need-it also creates "1984" Or well, big-brother possibilities. Do the benefits outweigh the risks? So for the GIS systems of the future, and to use a phrase from a popular movie, "With great power comes great responsibility"; an issue that will need to be addressed with every GIS advancement made. And GIS technology is expanding in capability, potential benefits and dimension. Future GIS offerings will be commonly presented not only in 2D street maps illustrating how to find a building on a street, but in 3D and how to find an office or even person within the building. Imagine the applications of this for public safety and search and rescue. A fire company or police unit will not only be provided the quickest route to an incident, but will also be able to track and improve search and rescue operations with enhanced capabilities for finding individuals within a building. Imagine the consumer application to this, no longer will there be announcements of, "We have a lost child in the store", as every person, place or thing, will be able to be "plotted" and "tracked". As we increase our use of data analytics, combining these skills with GIS, the element of predictive GIS or 4D predictive visualization is a real possibility, and something that is already being tried with sensors and the effect of time, transportation patterns, activities and events to reduce traffic fatalities. Other uses involve the effects of natural disasters--storm paths and earthquake shake maps on building construction and resilience. As the world continues as an increasingly large and complex place to live, GIS and maps will continue to help by presenting the world into a context relative and relatable visualization. There will be issues and concerns about scientific and technologic ethics, in GIS and technology that GIS leverages. But as long as humans crave the need to understand where they are in their environment, be it their neighborhood, their city, country, world or even the universe, we will always love maps. The partnership between technology and maps through GIS, is truly one for the ages. The ability to interactively manipulate data into a context that creates relevance is life changing
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